My colleague’s son started out in pre engineering/Exploratory Studies and is a CS major as a Sophomore now. It sounded like a common pathway at CU. By no means am I an expert, but I believe this the relevant process to get from Exploratory Studies to Engineering.
If I meet all the IUT requirements, am I guaranteed admission?
Yes. If you meet all IUT criteria and apply by the posted deadline, you will be guaranteed admission to the major you enter on the application. Since the IUT pathway is not competitive, this also means there are NO exceptions to the criteria.
We’re from the Midwest. Taking the SATs is a requirement at our HS. My daughter’s score was okay, but not really reflective of who she is as a student. She only took it once and didn’t do any test prep, likely because she knew it would be optional on most college apps. She applied to MANY schools, and only 1 required test scores.
Hardly any of my daughter’s friends submit their scores, even kids who score very high. The new thinking is that the only kids who submit are the ones who have near perfect scores. So the thought process is that any score under 1500 will look bad when compared to the best scores that are being submitted.
OOS Daughter accepted! Psych major. Large public high school in Los Angeles. 3.84W. Test optional. 6 APS + lots of honors. Varsity swimming and waterpolo plus various other ECs. Summer camp counselor thru high school.
Agreed- the kids have to do a lot of research in deciding to submit scores. We are from East Coast and were told that some schools look at zip codes- if you are from a wealthy zip code in an area where SAT/ACT testing was offered and easy to access- if you don’t submit test scores they will assume it is because you did not do well. My son got a 1390 SAT and submitted - he was deferred to RD (computer science). Other schools truly view it as TO and it is not considered if you did not submit.
Not sure where I saw it, probably CC on the FAFSA thread, but there was a list of schools that required just the CSS, and you can find out if the FAFSA is required for merit at your schools, but it’s usually not. We won’t qualify for FAFSA and we prefer to protect our data, so not doing it.
TO can be a trap, allowing a school to bring in the kids with a hook (athletes, donors etc), but hurting everyone else. Some schools say TO when they are actually Test Preferred. If your score is above the 50% on the CDS put out by the uni then you should submit (major matters, esp Eng & CS). Also on the CDS looking at the % of students that submitted scores can help your decision to submit b/c the official SAT range is misleading – take Northeastern: 50% mark is 1500, but only 33% submitted SATS and 11% submitted ACTs, no way to tell the overlap of those who submitted both.
There are schools where a non-hook kid has no shot of getting in without a score, and a high score at that, think Carnegie Mellon. I’ve seen smart kids forgo submitting decent scores and then getting a lot of rejections.
I personally think it was a lot easier when scores were required. GPAs don’t take into account easy grading and easy courses, or the opposite for that matter, and no way do I believe colleges with reduce admission staff are doing a full read of 60,000 applicants, not when there’s easily sortable data and AI.
After going through this process I truly feel for kids that do not have an engaged adult working with them (and even adults get it wrong). Its pretty impossible for a 17 year old to navigate a process that is opaque, misleading, and can be predatory. Recruit to Reject is real, and doing that to a teenager is wrong.
Son in state accepted to environmental design. 3.0 1200 SAT. Unusual ECs, lots of community service. No AP or honors. Private school. In state makes a big difference.
I agree with you! My kids do not let me get involved in much in their lives but they did appreciate that I helped them narrow down the list of colleges and helped them consider all the variables. I narrowed the list to about 40 colleges and let them narrow from there- and then helped them decide whether to submit SAT scores (by making a spreadsheet of who required them and what their ranges were). This is a daunting process and many teenagers need guidance on how to navigate it.
Good to know! Gives me hope that colleges are truly figuring out how to navigate admissions evaluations without overreliance on SAT/ACT test scores. Congrats on all of the acceptances.
If you want a government loan, you have to fill out the FAFSA. Those loans can be subsidized (and the income allowance is a lot higher than that for a PELL grant) or unsubbed, but $2000/yr is always unsubbed.
It is hard to tell if it is worth it or not to fill out FAFSA before you do it.
DS24 accepted to Arts & Sciences/Geography - 1300 SAT submitted, 3.85 GPA (W), 3 APs. Limited ECs but strong demonstrated interest in major. No merit from what I can tell.